Elevating apparatus



Jan. 26, 1932. w. B. wlGLE 1,342,638

ELavA'rING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 29. 1930 Patented Jan. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES WILSON B. WIGLE, OF COMPTON, CALIFORNIA ELEVATI'NG APPARATUS Application filed September 29, 1930. Serial No. 485,143.

This invention relates generally to oil well equipment, and more particularly to an elevating apparatus.

it chief object of this invention is to pron vide an elevating apparatus so arranged that it may be employed in pulling or lowering drill pipe, well casing, or pump rods to and from an oil or gas well.

A further object of the present invention lo is to provide an elevating apparatus adapted to be connected to the traveling block ot a rotary well drilling rig, and provided with links connected to an elevator' in such a manner that they may swing in all directions, 'le thereby eliminating any torsional strains thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the character stated of strong and durable construction in which 2?-0 links and elevators are employed in place of the usual hook.

'Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the elevating apparatus (parts being broken away and shown in section) as it appears when pulling a string of drill pipe.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 oi Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation taken at right angles to Fig. 1 showing the apparatus as it appears when disconnected from the drill 35 Fig. 4 is a side elevation, parts being broken away and shown in section, of the apparatus as it appears when employed to pull sucker rods from a pumping well.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the apparatus when disconnected from the sucker rods.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, designates a body member pro- 45 vided with a centrally disposed bore 11 Jfor the reception of a compression spring 12,

seated on an annular flange 13.

Mounted on the upper end oit the spring is a cone or ball race 14 upon which is disposed 59 a plurality of balls 15, which in turn enter an annular groove 16 formed in the underside of a screw cap member 17, which is preferably secured by screw threads 18 to the upper end of a stem 19 formed integral with a head 20, the stem extending through a bore 21 formed in the lower end of the body member 10.

Oppositely disposed lugs 22 having undercut recesses 23 therein are formed on the block in which are disposed bails or links 24, which in turn engage the clevis 25 ot a traveling block 26 of usual construction.

Links 24 are formed of a single piece forging having curved upper ends 27, their lower ends engaging the upper ends ot the recesses 23, and are adapted to be inserted into the recesses through arcuate openings 28 (Fig. 2) formed in the lugs, then moved upwardly into the recesses. Accidental disengagement of the links from the block is prevented when connecting the elevator with the pipe 84, by passing the lower ends of the links into the lower portions 29 of the recesses 23.

Formed in the head 2O are oppositely disposed recesses 30 having curved lower ends 3l upon which rest the upper ends of links 32 of similar construction to the links 24, the lower ends of said links being removably connected to a casing elevator 33 of standard construction, the links being also removably connected to the head as above described in connection with the links 24 and body member 10.

When the apparatus is connected to an entire string ot drill pipe, casing, tubing or the like, as indicated at 34 in Fig. 1, the spring 11 will be under full compression with the cap 17 in trictional engagement with the top surface oi the body member, thus preventing any swivelling action ot the stem 19.

After the string 34 has been raised and gripped by the usual slips in the rotary table, the traveling block 26 is then lowered sui'- liciently to permit a swivelling action oit the head 20, and a stand of drill pipe casing or tubing may then be readily disconnected, at which time the spring functions to automatically raise the stand in the same manner as with the swivel casing hook disclosed in my prior re-issued Patent No. 14,253, dated January 23, 1917.

Under cert-ain conditions it will be 'found to be desirable to prevent swivelling action of the elevator, this being accomplished by a locking device 36 mounted on the upper surface of the cap member 17. This device preferably consists or a plate 37 slidably mounted between flanges or lugs 39 formed on the cap, and retained in place by pins 38, the plate being moved to a position between the link, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, to prevent swivelling of the elevator, tlie'pla-teen'd contacting with one of theV arms. of the. links 24.

Referringl to Figs. 4 and 5,.the apparatus is shown employed to handle sucker rods, in which case the links 32 are removed4 from the head and a" swivelling device generally designated. at 40 connected thereto, it being necessary to employ the swivelling'device 40 when raising sucker rods as the spring 12 must necessarily be of sufficient strength to raise a stand of drill pipe, weighing approx imately 4,000 lbs.,.or almost 3,000 lbs. in eX- cess of the same lengthof sucker rods. In other words,.the threaded'joint of. the sucker rods'would then be under such tension that it would be practically impossible to disconnect them.

Swivelling device 40 preferably consists of. shank 41 having. a pin 42 formed on its upper end, screw threaded into a coupling member 43 which extends into a recess 44 formed in the head 10, and is connected thereto by a bolt 45.

Formed on the lower end. of thel shankis a head 46 which supports anantiiriction bearing 47 including balls 48 disposed` between races 49, the upper race of which is engaged by a shoulder -50 formed in the upper end of a cylindrical sleeve 51 connected by screw threads 52y to a member 53.

Disposed` in a bore 54 formed in the member 53 is a compression coil spring 55,. the lower end` of which rests on a shoulder 56, the upper. end thereof' being; engaged by a nut 57 threaded on the upper end of a rod 58. This rod is providedl with an eye 58a through which extends the hails` 59- of a hook 60 whichv carries an elevator 61 adapted to receive the coupling 62 of a sucker rod. 64.

Vhen the entire lengthA of the sucker rods are suspended, the cap 17 engages. the body member 10, and nut 57 the upper end ofl the member 53.

After the rods have been sufficiently elevated and retained in such position with a second elevator placedv on the rod below the coping above the casing head, the traveling block is lowered sufficiently to permit full expansion of the spring 12 and partial expansion of the spring 55, the joints of the sucker rods may then be readily disconnected'.

While unscrewing the joints of the rods, the sleeve 51, member 53, and rods 63 swivel on the bearing 47, the spring 55 serving to automatically raise the stand immediately after disconnection, thereby preventing damage to the threads of the couplings.

I claim: Y

AnlA elevatingY mechanism comprising a bodymember having a pair of diametrically disposed undercut recesses in its side wall for the receptionA of' w pair of elevator supporting links, a socket formed in said body member and a bore in its bottom wall, a load sustaining member. provided with a shank,

said= shank extending through the bore in WILSON B. WIGLE..

IOP 

